Electronic databases provide for storage and retrieval of electronic data items. Data items in such databases may be electronically updated. In some scenarios, a system may be configured to access information on multiple data sources. For example, a system may access multiple databases in order to access and retrieve data items stored within those databases for use.
However, some of the data items across those multiple databases may be related, and the operation of the system may involve the integration and use of related data items originating from multiple databases. For example, there may be data items across multiple databases pertaining to the same unique entity. Accordingly, the system may need to identify the data items in each database that relate to that specific unique identity.
To do this, some systems may require the relationships between related data items from different databases to be specified, so that those data items may be properly integrated and used. In some cases, these relationships can be specified in advance. However, in other cases the relationships may not be explicitly known in advance, especially if the databases used are dynamic in nature.
Thus, it may be useful for a system to be able to efficiently match data items from different databases in order to automatically determine any relationships between those data items, so that related data items may be identified and properly integrated for use by the system. It may also be useful for related data items to be integrated in a way that preserves their relationship, especially if those data items are stored by the system in separate databases. Furthermore, for security and privacy purposes it may also be useful for those related data items to be integrated in a way that allows users to only access data items relevant to the user.